The Beater and the Shadow
by Forsaken Cross
Summary: Once we were in a secluded area, I turned around and faced 'Kirito'. "Out with it, Kimiko. Why are you posing as a boy?" (Genderbent Kirito)
1. Chapter 1: The Beater's Truth

The Beater and the Shadow

Chapter One: The Beater's Truth

* * *

**Well, I should probably explain that this is a ****_genderbend _****story, so don't kill me for genderbending Kirito. (He's the only one I genderbended besides an OC that my friend gave me to mess around with.)**

**Well, there's that, and then there's the fact that this is going to be a YURI story, which means girlxgirl. Don't like it, then you can read other stories. And NO, it's not going to be a female KiritoxAsuna fic.**

**So, this story starts****_ after_**** Kirito gets Dark Repulser from Lizbeth, so that means that he has Dual Wield already, but it still hasn't been revealed. (In this, the sixty-first floor is unlocked already.)**

**Also, Kirito's new real-life name means "child without equal".**

**With that in mind, have a fun read!**

* * *

(Yamiko)

Annoyed.

That would be the perfect word to describe me when I learned about 'Kirito' being in this game.

"Baka…"

"Well, if it ain't Yamiko?" a rough voice said from behind me.

"Huh? Do I know you?" I queried, turning around.

I found a man with red hair, a red headband and a little stubble on his chin.

"Um… I think… maybe… do I?"

"My name is Klein, remember? Remember the park?"

"No, not ringing any bells there."

_Wait a second, this guy is that one eternally single guy!_

I looked at him with amused eyes and said, "Old man, how's your quest for a girlfriend coming?"

"_That's _what you remember?"

"… Klein. Where is Kirito? The info brokers said that you would know."

"Oh, I see. Going after the big game, eh? Let me tell you, you've got some _serious_ competition."

_Competition? he must be joking! Oh, that's right. He doesn't _know_._

"That's not what I want to meet him for. Trust me though, I don't think a single girl in this game has a chance."

"Why is that?"

"…"

"Right, right. Still, that's the longest conversation I've ever seen you have. You've made me proud," Klein said.

"… You're not my dad, old man."

"Yeah, yeah… oh, right. STOP CALLING ME AN OLD MAN, RUNT!"

"… Answer me. Where is Kirito?"

"Well, I can't guarantee he'll be there, but his house is in west [[Algade]], on the fiftieth floor," Klein said tentatively.

"Thank you."

And with that, I left.

* * *

[[Algade]] was a bustling metropolis compared to the small villages I had been questing at. It was hard to find the market district, let alone a house. I eventually decided to take e rest, walking into a shop where a teenager with short black hair and a black coat stood talking to a dark skinned man towering at one hundred eighty centimeters tall.

_Wait a minute, that's—!_

"Agil, I'm _not_ going to sell it. Just give up, I won't cave," 'Kirito' said, leaning on the bartenders' table.

"Ahahahaha! Fine, but don't expect to get good prices for your next couple of drops!" Agil replied, laughing heartily.

"You're cruel, Agil. Well… I guess I'll just have to take my business elsewhere for a while."

_You sly dog. You're acting just like me._

"No, Kirito! I'll do anything!"

"All right, then we have a deal. You stop begging me to sell my S-class item and keep your prices the same, and I'll keep my business here," 'Kirito' proposed with a smirk.

"All right, fine."

"… Kirito," I said flatly, walking up to him and dragging him out of the shop with a death-grip on his hand.

"Hahahahaha! Kirito, you sly dog! You have another girl all over you! You gotta tell me your secret next time we meet!" the giant known as Agil yelled at our retreating forms.

* * *

Once we were in a secluded area, I turned around and faced 'Kirito'.

"Out with it, Kimiko. Why are you posing as a boy?"

"W-what? I-I don't know what you're talking about, Yamiko," Kimiko said nervously, her voice stuttering.

"There are only two people in the real world that knew that name. One is my old man, and one is Kirigaya Kimiko, a _girl_. Now answer my question, Kimiko," I said, grabbing her shoulders.

"All right, fine. My beta profile was male and my armor and short hair made it look like I was male, so I kept it up to seem stronger."

"That is the single most _idiotic_ thing I've ever heard you say, Kimiko. Oh well, I guess the fans of the [[Black Swordsman]] and haters of the [[Beater]] are in for a rude awakening," I said smugly, bringing back my arms to cross them over my chest.

"Please don't tell anyone! I'll do anything!" Kimiko pleaded desperately.

"That _is_ a tempting offer, but… Why? Why do you keep leading the _three_ girls that like you on?" I said, irritation evident.

"Wait, three girls? Anyway, that's precisely the reason that I'm keeping this up. I've been leading my friends on for so long that I think they'd leave me if I told them. I'm boxed in…" my old friend said, looking down.

"Do you really think your friends are that shallow? If they are, then they aren't really your friends at all. Anyway, my mouth is getting tired again, so can you take me to your house for some treatment?" I requested.

"Wait, there's a way to treat that in this game?" Kimiko asked incredulously, eyes widening.

"There's a _supposed_ to be a special item in this game called an [[_All Healing Crystal_]] that cures all of your physical and status problems," I said sarcastically.

"All right, I get it. You don't have to act like that all the time."

* * *

When we arrived at her house, Kimiko turned around and said, "All right, if I let you in and heal you, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise that I won't tell anyone your secret," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

_That doesn't mean that I won't hint at it, though._

"Good."

As soon as she let me in her house, I realized how rough Kimiko had it. The walls were all cracked, as if they weren't actually system-protected [[Immortal Objects]]. The small house had only _one_ window, being right next to the bed. Unfortunately for her, there was a streetlight plainly visible from the window, which would make it hard to sleep at night.

"Wow… I'm sorry you have to live here. This must suck."

"Eh, you get used to it. Besides, you've had worse, right?" Kimiko sympathized with me.

"Yeah, but I was saved. You don't even _need_ saving, so I doubt someone will actually help you out here. Unless…"

"Unless…?"

"I'll tell you what. I'll let you stay at my house for a while, but only if you can build up the courage to tell everyone that you're a girl, okay?" I proposed.

Kimiko nodded hesitantly.

"Well then, let's go to the sixty-first floor."

* * *

When we arrived at [[Salemburg]], Kimiko immediately blurted out, "How could you live here?!"

I smirked. "Drastic change from my real home, huh? Well, you might as well live a good life while you can. Let's go."

* * *

When we got to my house, Kimiko started to gape like that of a fish, in complete awe of its extravagance.

"All right, let's go inside," I said, opening the door.

When we walked inside my house, she was rendered speechless.

My house was… grander than most, even for a luxurious city like [[Salemburg]].

Marble tiles paved the floor. Comfortable furniture could be seen in the room to the left, consisting of two couches, a reclining chair, a footrest for the chair, and a coffee table.

"How did you…?"

"Afford it? A year's worth of questing, quest boss, mini boss and field boss hunting. Not to mention some dungeon mapping and selling S-class drops that I could never use," I said smugly.

"Which reminds me, what weapon build do you use, Yamiko?" Kimiko asked me with a pondering expression on her face.

"Double-bladed staves. I got a really good one from the LA bonus at the last floor boss fight," I replied.

"So you were the one who got the LA bonus and left? Well, what is it?"

"It's called the [[Devil's Edge]]. It dis… you know what? It'd be best to just show you what it can do in combat. But first, you're probably starving."

Her growling stomach proved my point.

"Let's fix something to eat, eh?"

* * *

"You can turn the cooking method to _manual_? As in… you can cook without using the [[Cooking Skill]]?"

"Yup! I never took the time to level up my [[Cooking Skill]], so I figured out how to set it to manual."

"Wow, amazing! I was in the beta, and even _I _didn't know about that. Cool!" Kimiko exclaimed excitedly.

"Wanna be the first outsider to try my cooking? I guarantee that it'll be good," I said, laughing at Kimiko's drooling mouth.

"Mou, no fair Yamiko, you know that I can't resist your cooking, but you don't have to laugh about it!"

"But I bet boys would think you're cute when you talk like this if you drop the act," I teased her.

_Just like when we were kids…_

"That is _seriously_ messed up. Besides, you _know_ I…" Kimiko responded sadly, looking at the ground.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that."

_This is getting _really_ awkward._

"Anyway, do you want to try my _manually_ cooked meal?"

"Yeah…" Kimiko said, still looking down.

I put my arm around her neck, saying, "C'mon, cheer up! We'll eat, get a good night's rest, and you'll feel _amazing_ tomorrow."

"Thank you, Yamiko," Kimiko said quietly, a small smile forming on her face.

"No problem. Just remember, you have to tell them eventually, or you're going out the backdoor."

"All right, got it!"

* * *

The next morning, I was awake at the system-simulated dawn. The sun had glared at me enough that I, being the light sleeper that I was, had to get out of its rays before the faux sun blinded my hypersensitive eyes.

I walked over to the guest bed, shaking Kimiko lightly.

"Kimiko, wake up… come on…"

_She had a long day yesterday. I almost feel bad for trying to wake her up. Not to mention that she met up with _me_. That must have taken a heavy toll on her, considering…_

"Ah… We don't have to get up yet… C'mere, lay down," she yawned out.

"O-okay…"

As I made a move to lay down on the bed, she pulled the covers up for me to get in. I slid in reluctantly.

"That meal yesterday was really good, Yamiko…"

"That's good. Did it make you feel any better?"

"Yeah, it worked really well."

I turned to face her, smiling. "I'm glad."

"… Y'know, you can't keep living a lie like this. Eventually someone will figure it out, and then you'll be the cause of even more chaos, just like before," I whispered softly.

"I know, but… I'm just scared."

"Scared…?"

"Yeah… I'm afraid of their reactions. What if… what if my friends hate me?" Kimiko said, sniffing at the end.

"Does this revolve around your _other_ secret as well?" I asked tentatively.

_If so, then I'll definitely…_

"Yeah…"

"I'll protect you. I'll protect you from all the hate. But… if those people are really your friends, then I don't think they'd hate you, regardless of your secrets."

"…"

"It'll shock them, like it did me, but… I think they'll be fine with it."

"Thank you, Yamiko," Kimiko said, nuzzling her face into her pillow.

For the faintest of moments, I thought I saw a tiny blush spread across her cheeks.

_Kimiko…_

"Hey, do you think you could show me your friends some time? I'd love to meet them," I said.

"No you wouldn't."

"No I wouldn't."

"Anyway, I want to know who you're around when you're not out soloing. If I know what they're like, then I can judge what their reactions would be to learning of your secrets," I explained.

"Oh, I see. Well… I'll introduce you after a nap, 'kay? Lay here with me," Kimiko requested, turning her head to face me.

"Someone's awfully tired," I whispered playfully.

"Can you really blame me? I just learned that one of my best friends is trapped in the same death game as me, they threatened to spill my secret, and then she invited me to stay at her house with her delicious sleep inducing food and nice, warm beds," she teased back, yawning at the end.

"Yeah, all right, you can sleep. I'm gonna go trai—" I was interrupted by a hand grabbing my wrist.

"No. I won't let you leave again. You have no idea…"

When I turned back around to face Kimiko, I found tears in her eyes.

_Damn those tears… _"All right…"

Ten minutes later, she was sound asleep, leaving me to think about the past week's events.

_Seven days ago, I found out that my best friend has not only been trapped a death game, but that she had been hiding her gender. I spent five days searching for her, then I met up with my old man. As it turns out, he knew Kimiko too, and even pointed in the right direction. Then when I finally found her, she turned out to be even more dense than I remembered. When I found out how rough she had it, I let her stay at my house. Why did I do all those things? Why do I care so much? One thing is for sure, though._

_This was one hell of a week._

* * *

**A/N:**

**Oh. My. Glob. THAT WAS SO UNEVENTFUL! I can't believe that a chapter actually went by without having any action!**

**So… I honestly don't like this chapter much, but if you guys like it, then leave a review telling me to continue. I just kinda had to get this out, you know? Well, there's only one thing left to say:**

**I don't own Sword Art Online or any of its characters! Don't kill me, Aniplex!**

**And with that, I bid you ado.**


	2. Chapter 2: Drink it Away

The Beater and the Shadow

Chapter Two: Drink it Away

"_Yamiko, I'll do anything, just don't go!" I screamed at her slowly retreating form. "Please! Forget what I said, just don't go!"_

_Yamiko turned around, sadness evident in her stare. "I'm sorry. I just can't answer that right now. I can't deal with this right now."_

"_So you're running away again? Has that ever solved anything for you?!" I screamed, instantly regretting it when I saw the look of pure rage Yamiko gave me._

"_SHUT UP! Just shut up! You don't understand anything!"_

_Tears welled up in her eyes… and she ran._

"Yamiko!" I screamed, waking up to find her missing.

_Did she… did she run again?_

"Whoa, what happened? Are you okay?" Yamiko said, coming from the kitchen with drinks in hand.

"Yamiko…" I said, trailing off.

"Hey now, don't worry. I'm here for you. I won't leave you," Yamiko soothed me.

"Do you really mean that?" I asked doubtingly.

"Of course," Yamiko said, patting my head. "Now, let's have a drink."

(Yamiko)

I had been waiting for her to wake up so I could try my new concoction… manually made alcohol. The only way to make alcohol would be to turn the cooking to manual, and I had been waiting patiently for a test subject.

All alcohol created in the game have special effects on the player who drinks them. of course, _all_ alcohol has a varying level of addiction effect. This alcohol in particular was supposed to bring out someone's innermost thoughts and emotions, and I wanted to see what went on in peoples' heads, so it was the perfect match. Considering that Kimiko had a lot to get off of her chest, it was perfect for her as well.

"Sooo… Yamiko, are you single? Just kidding! Did you fall for it? I know you're not like that, but… you didn't have to be so mean that one time…" Kimiko mock pouted, completely drunk.

"Kimiko, please don't joke about that. That's not what this is for," I said with a frown.

"ya don't have ta get all snippy…" Kimiko slurred. "I don't want my friend mad at me… wait, what were you talking about when you said, 'This isn't what this is for'? Anyway… can I pwease have another drink?"

"S-sure, but… are you sure you can handle it?" I asked her, feigning concern.

"Yeeeah… I toootally got this… hehe," Kimiko said, nearly incoherent. She grabbed another glass and chugged it all down.

_Hook, line and sinker._

Five minutes and five glasses later, when she was at the highest level of intoxication that she could reach without getting alcohol poisoning, I started to enact my plan.

"Kimiko, why don't you PM your friends and invite them over here?" I said slyly, knowing she wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"Suuure… but could I take a nap first? I'm so tiiired…" Kimiko slurred.

"Didn't you just get out of bed?" I asked, annoyed.

"You do have a point… all right, I'll call my friends over… where are we?"

I couldn't believe how stupid she became when she got drunk. My mouth hung open. "A-at my house, remember?" I stuttered, still utterly shocked.

"I know _that_, but wheeere is your house? I know it's on the sixty-first floor, but I need landmarks to help them find us, y'know?"

"Oh, right. Tell them that it's three blocks west from the grand fountain in the center of the city," I said, relieved that Kimiko actually retained _some_ common sense.

"'Kay!"

And with that, she began PMing all of her friends to come over to my house. Inwardly, I was laughing my head off, imagining the looks on their faces. _Not the nicest thing to imagine, but what can I say? I can be twisted sometimes, and there's no controlling it_. I reassured mysef.

"Okay, done! Oh, do you think I could have one more glass? Pweeease?" Kimiko implored.

"Okay… you know that you can still get alcohol poisoning from manually brewed alcohol in this game, right?" I was becoming genuinely concerned for her here.

"It'll be fiiine… don't worry, I won't die to a lousy drink, no matter how good it tastes… or how addicting it is…" Kimiko slurred with conviction.

"Kimiko… you're an idiot…" I said concernedly, handing Kimiko another glass of my homemade concoction.

_I'm starting to understand why she was afraid of alcohol in the real world. That stuff makes her delirious. It kinda scares me._

It wasn't long before I found some visitors at my doorstep, presumably Kimiko's friends. One had long orange hair, coming down to her waist, accompanied by a high-classed [Knights of the Blood] uniform. Another player, with hair dyed pink, stood out from the crowd as she approached my house.

"[Asuna the flash], I presume? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I heard that Kirito was here. Are you letting him stay with you?" Asuna said, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Wow, your patience vanishes just as fast as you can attack. Anyway, hello Liz. Long time no see!" I chastised Asuna, turning to greet the pink-haired mace wielder as she arrived.

"Yamiko? I haven't seen you since I fully upgraded your drop! How's it going?"

"I'm doing well, as you can see from my new house. I can't thank you enough for your help. The upgrades you made to my weapon made Col farming a _lot_ easier."

"No problem, Yamiko," Lisbeth said with embarrassment.

I looked around, noticing the setting sun. "Why don't you two come in? I'll make you some drinks if you want."

As we walked in my house, they noticed a drunk Kimiko on one of the couches, drinking another glass of my homemade alcohol.

"What the heck did I tell you, Kimiko?! You'll get sick if you have even a little more!" I yelled, running up to her and yanking the glass away from Kimiko's grasp.

"Aaaw… buzzkill! Oh hey, my friends are here! Hiii everyone… wait, where's Klein…?" Kimiko asked woozily, finally taking notice of her friends.

_Wait… Klein? As in the same Klein I know?_

"Would someone _please_ tell us what's going on? What happened to Kirito? Wait a second… you called him Kimiko! Why? Isn't Kimiko a girls' name?" Asuna asked worriedly, running over to her.

_Crap! I wanted Kimiko to tell them on her own! Oh well… can't do anything about it now…_

"Ehehe… allow me to explain," I said nervously.

"Yeah, tell us what's going on," a familiar voice said from the doorway.

"K-Klein? You're here too? So you're a friend of… well, I guess you all deserve to know the truth. Since Kimiko's passed out, I might as well tell you myself… Y'know, to spare you the trouble of waiting for Kimiko to wake up and get over the inevitable hangover that comes with being super drunk. And with how much Kimiko drank, she'll probably be out for a while," I said anxiously.

I received glares from the girls in the room, yet I also received an amused look from Klein, who seemed to be enjoying my nervous demeanor.

_Ass._

While it was true that Kimiko had passed out, I was just using that as an excuse to stall. I needed to figure out a way to explain it to them… fast.

"W-well, y'see… you know what? Screw it, I'm just gonna be blunt here. The Kirito you know is actually Kimiko, my childhood friend in this game, who happens to be a female."

"WHAT?!"

**A/N:**

**That. Was. So. SHORT! Sorry guys, but I couldn't think of a good way to stretch it out any longer.**

**Ah, the inevitable drinking chapter… I feel kinda bad for Kimiko… Yamiko pulled a sneaky.**

**Finally, some yuri, albeit lightly sprinkled. Did 'ya see it? Well anyway, next chapter, you finally get to see what you've been waiting for: ALL HECK BREAKING LOOSE!**

**Anyway, this might be it for this story for a little while. I'm going to receive Gunslinger (a yuri Vocaloid fic) from my friend and idol on this site, NitoryuNoKami. He decided to give up on that one, so I gracefully offered to take it and make it my own. NNK agreed, so I'm going to take a while to come up with a decent way to continue that story without screwing it up.**

**Anyway, I think that's about it. I just have one more thing to say: I don't own SAO or any of its characters, floors, or weapons!**

**Adios Amigos!**


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